Safrica, Rusky is correct. The Wildebeest is also known as Gnu. This further complicates your question because gnu is a Khoi word, in other words it also originated in the Cape and actually refers to the White Tailed Wildebeest (Connochaetes gnou) also known as the Black Wildebeest. This species only occurs in the central parts of South Africa. Gnu referred to the sound it make, a metallic ringing snort (Signs of the Wild. Clive Walker)It seems some of the old Dutch/Afrikaans names stuck and was adapted elsewhere as well, off hand we can also think of Klipspringer and Boomslang as obvious examples.

I got hold of 'Die soogdiergids van Suider-Afrika' by Burger Cillié. It is in Afrikaans but gives the common English name. Damara Dik-dik in both languages. Gives an Afrikaans alternative - Bloubokkie.

It is only natural for English (or any other) language to adopt a word if it does not already have it in its voacbularly. Most of the animals that we have referred to are endemic to Southern Africa only. Hence the afrikaans names would have been inculcated.

This occured with English colonisation all over the world. For example some Indian (hindi) words that have made it into english - bungalow, verandah, pyjamas, jungle, thug, randy, tiffin.

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